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 Facial Recognition 

Introduction

Facial Recognition is “a method of identifying or verifying the identity of an individual using their face. Face recognition systems can be used to identify people in photos, video, or in real-time” as defined by an article for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (Facial). Wherever you are in this world, undoubtedly, whoever wants to use the system for facial recognition has access to identifying you, or in essence ‘putting a face to you’ with whatever database they choose to run it by. There are so many reasons as to why an analytical system such as the facial recognition system would be needed or used-- whether a regular civilian requires its services to find their closest possible celebrity look alike, a business doing outreach to connect with and gain more consumers, or intelligence agencies investigating a crime in hopes to identifying a suspect. However, the focus of this piece will delve into the security aspects of the facial recognition system and how law enforcement uses it as a necessary tool of investigation.

Background

The system of facial recognition is a form of biometrics that uses an algorithm to help identify specific individuals. Biometrics is defined as an application of using systematic analysis to biological factors. According to “Facial Soft Biometric Features for Forensic Face Recognition”, a scholarly paper written by several authors, this system is a form of soft biometrics, since it doesn’t physically handle biological factors, but rather the image of a face, whether it be via picture, video, or even live footage. Since it focuses on the features of a person’s face (such as size and shape of certain landmark features and the placement of such features), it becomes a softer version of biometrics in comparison to fingerprinting or DNA check via saliva or even blood in a crime scene, since those directly handle biological factors cross checking with systematic data. The paper also states that the system uses forensic methodology that is obtained continuously and in a discrete manner from raw images which is eventually ran against two different databases that cross references the faces with its analysis (Tome). Such databases, used for forensics, have a high to practically complete, success rate at identifying individuals, as supported by the paper. In simpler terms, it studies the shape and structure of the face along with the features it carries while overlaying an algorithm during processing to put a name to the face of its beholder.

Current Use

Facial Recognition can be used for many different things-- whether it be to unlock your phone, tag people on Facebook, or even find your celebrity look alike. However, a rather significant use that this system has is for law enforcement. When is comes to its uses for the intelligence services, it is a great help since there is so much access to video footage because of how imbursed our world is in surveillance. In a technical review for The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), it is stated that “there are different methods of recognizing faces. Face recognition by machines is primarily an image analysis problem and is done either by verification or identification. In verification, you compare a face against a set of faces. In identification, a face is compared against each face in a database. The reliability of a face recognition system depends on two critical requirements: (i) a large database of facial images and (ii) a testing procedure to evaluate the face recognition systems.” (Kumar) Wherever you turn, there's a camera on you, whether or not you see it, whether it be a CCTV camera or a grainy gas station camera. It has become so easily accessible that police officers can even use their mobile devices to identify people during police stops (Facial). Everywhere you go, you are subjected to surveillance.

Ethical Aspect

When addressing the topic of facial recognition, there are of course concerns when it comes to the ethical aspects. When a lower quality of the system is being used, it is bound for there to being mistakes. Again, pulling from the organization called the Electronic Frontier Foundation, it is stated that the data being used is prone to misidentifying or even failing to identify African Americans and other ethnic minorities, women, and younger people (Facial) which then leads to the question, does this system have an ethical framework that it follows strictly? In theory, yes it should, whether or not it is practiced it is questionable. When discussing the system in terms of governmental use, it is more than likely to follow an ethical code. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in a piece submitted to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in order to operate an ethical, privacy protected facial recognition system, an entity must comply in eleven various principles. To summarize, it states that the entity using the facial recognition system must have consent, unless it is the government is using it because the government has access to information that is not covered by the Privacy Act of 1974, caution should be taken when minors are taken into consideration, facial recognition should not be the sole means to identifying a person-- it must be corroborated with another form of proof to identification, all information must be kept secure, and everything must be kept tracked of. (National)

Legalities

Another question that may arise, is how can such a system be legal? Well, when it comes to the public, there are its restrictions when it comes to using the facial recognition system. There are no American federal laws that prohibit the use of the facial recognition system, but in states such as Texas and Illinois, it is actually illegal to use facial recognition on somebody without their consent (Sobel)-- which is understandable and goes back to the ethical framework that should be embraced, as provided by the ACLU. However, as also mentioned before, when it pertains to the American government (agencies such as the FBI or the CIA), there are less restrictions on using the facial recognition system due to the Privacy Act of 1974. In matters of safety and national security, by all means, what needs to be done for the protection of this country will get done in this government.

Social/Security Aspect

As we already know, surveillance carries a rather prominent role in today’s society. It is not necessarily in comparison to a Big Brother-esque omnipotent entity or deity in which the society we live in has to be paranoid that we are being watched-- that is just how the world is today. With all its technological advancements, the world is an ever-changing progression of interconnectedness between all different walks of life. Doing so, and having so much readily available footage at hand, this just advances the ability to investigate a crime or prevent a potential one from happening. Aforementioned, there was discussion about how the mistakes that the facial recognition system can make with misidentifying or even fail to identify persons of interest, especially minorities. However in terms of investigation and intelligence, such is not to happen as often, or even, at all in comparison if a regular person were to use some sort of database to run facial recognition. If anything, the databases that run the facial recognition system for law enforcement agencies have helped immensely with pinpointing the identities of individuals. In a security journal, written by a scholar that specializes in law and criminal sciences and a law enforcement agent, such is proven stating, “The number of facial images of non-identified individuals of interest available to police forces is increasing” (Dessimoz). What this means that because of the facial recognition system, a greater access to information has been provided to law enforcement for better diligence. Essentially, better security equals better society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, facial recognition is a soft biometric system in which it uses facial structures, studies features of the face of an individual, and where the features are placed, all while cross referencing the facial image with an algorithm that contains systematic data which would identify an individual. It must be kept in mind that, an ethical code must be upheld while using a system as such for the public, however, if the government sees it as a way to protect the people of their country, then the rules can be bent if that information is absolutely needed. Surveillance is inevitable and ubiquitous in the world today, but in behalf of that, greater access to information given through the communion of peoples all around the globe is a given. It provides countenance for better recognizability of the faces unknown to this world, causing it to become a prodigious feat in terms of facial recognition. Due to the expeditious rate at which this world is technologically advancing, more and better security is required and with a system like facial recognition available at this day and age in a rapidly evolving and technologically advancing society, facial recognition is bound to become more efficient, effective, and electric for the betterment of the safety in society.